CL seafood is safe despite the oil spill incident in Bataan: BFAR

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region Three (BFAR-3) assured the public that seafood harvested in Central Luzon are safe for human consumption despite the recent oil spill incidents in the province of Bataan.

Based on the Situational Report No. 42 re: MT Terranova Oil Spill Incident released by the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council Region Three (RDRRMC-3) on Thursday, September 11, sensory evaluation on the seafood affected by the oil spill showed that they are free from traces of oil, grease, and fuel contamination.

The evaluation included samples from Pampanga, Bulacan, and Bataan; and was held between September 4 to September 10.

Aside from the sensory evaluation, BFAR-3 regularly conducts Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) tests in the said provinces.  According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PAHs are a class of chemicals that occur naturally in coal, crude oil, and gasoline.

“As of 09 September 2024 BFAR 3 Report, the PAH tests conducted by the CRL laboratory in Pampanga, returned No Detectable (ND) levels of PAHs across all samples. This indicates that the tested seafood species are free from PAH contamination and are safe for public consumption,” the RDRRMC-3 report reads.

Meanwhile, a total of 1,304, 878 liters of oily waste were already siphoned from the sunken MTKR Terranova from August 19 to September 8. More than 1.2 million liters of these wastes have already been transferred to various treatment facilities according to RDRRMC.

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